Bachelor of Computing with Honours in Computer Science (For Senior Year Entry After Year 2023)

This is the first part of the pair of courses that introduce the breadth of Information and Communications Technology to students.

This course takes students to a data-centric point of view of computer systems: how computer processes data to produce useful information, how meanings are represented with data symbols, and how real world data is captured into digital form.

The course also explains how different parts of a computer can work together so that it can perform tasks defined by computer programs.

This course is a sequel to IT S102F. This course focuses on data processing with small-scale computer programs. It gives students some ideas about data input and output, data operations, and features and structures of computer programs.

Students will also gain experience of the stages in software development, and especially software testing and debugging.

The last part of the courses gives students an overview of current computing technologies such as human-computer interaction, speech recognition, speech synthesis, handwriting recognition, security, and cryptography.

Java is one of the most popular languages in the IT professional world. The aim of this course is to provide students with sound foundation in software development using the object-oriented programming language Java.

The course will cover fundamental object-oriented programming concepts such as classes and objects, and the structure of text-based Java applications.

Students will study how to analyze problems and apply object-oriented methodology in software development.

This is intended to be a first course in computer programming. In this course, students will study how to write computer programs in the Python language to solve simple computing problems.

Students will use fundamental programming and data containers to ease programming effort and to allow writing larger programs to solve problems. Topics include variables, operators, control structures, arrays and strings.

As a sequel to COMP S208F, the aim of this course is to facilitate students to acquire skills for writing larger programs effectively.

Students will study how program structures, software development process, data structures, and algorithms can be used to deal with larger programming tasks. Topics include modular programming, abstract data types, searching and sorting, recursion, and data structures such as linked lists, binary trees, and hash-tables.

The aim of this course is to lay the foundation of discrete mathematics of students which will be used in studying other more advanced programming courses.

Students will study the concepts of discrete mathematics, using different techniques for analysing and solving discrete mathematical problems. Topics include sets, functions, equivalence and induction.

The aim of this course is to introduce the algorithms in various domains, and techniques for designing efficient algorithms.

It trains student the ability to analyze the time and space complexity and correctness of algorithms and skills to design solutions to problems. Topics include regular and context-free languages and finite and pushdown automata, and the Turing machine.

The aim of this course is to equip students with the fundamentals of the design of computer systems and their major components.

The course begins with a discussion of how to represent data in computer systems and then moves onto the design of a simple programmable computer system. Techniques for improving various aspects of computer system performance will be discussed in the second half of the course.

Major topics include data representation, computer system design, instruction execution model, memory, input/output system, pipelining, and instruction set design.

The aim of this course is to equip students with knowledge about the design of operating systems for the management of system resources.

Students will be allowed to study various methods and algorithms for effectively managing major computing resource types including processors, main memory, and input output devices. Major topics include structure of operating systems, process management, concurrency, synchronization and deadlock, memory management, and input/output management.

This course aims to enable students to create maintainable software in Java to meet a great variety of computing requirements.

This course covers more advanced concepts in object-oriented programming and also more advanced Java technologies for developing sophisticated applications. Through concepts such as reuse, abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism, students should be able to more capably handle higher problem complexity in their programming work. Students will also study how to develop applications with multithreading, networking and security support in Java.

The course aims to provide students with a foundation in designing and developing Android applications. Students will study the architecture of the Android platform, design and implement basic Android applications, and apply Android APIs in mobile programming.

Advisory Pre-requisites: Students should have completed most foundation and middle level computing programming courses.

This course aims to provide an explanation of the concepts underlying all relational databases as well as practical experience in applying the concepts in different situations.

Students should develop knowledge about the role of databases and database management systems within the context of information systems. Students should also develop skills in using the database language SQL. Major topics include database environment, database architectures, relational model and database design.

The course aims to develop in learners the terminology, notations and understanding needed for effective communication with team members during software engineering activities. It also aims to equip learners with the skills to apply software engineering methods and tools in a variety of situation.

This course aims to enable students to develop web applications based on mainly Java technologies and the three-tier architecture.

Students should be able to describe essential protocols & technologies for web applications, and apply major models and frameworks for web application development. Major topics include features and models of web applications, mark-up languages, development of web applications with Java technologies such as Java server pages, servlets, database connectivity, and frameworks for boosting productivity.

This course introduces some of the contemporary techniques, technologies and tools for designing, constructing and deploying flexible server-side Internet applications.

One of the main focuses of this course is to explain and demonstrate the use of cloud computing technologies. Students will learn how to design, construct and deploy scalable and cost-effective applications that are readily deployable on commercial cloud platforms.

This is a project course. Students will attempt a final year project which should provide an opportunity to integrate knowledge and skills acquired in the programme of study. Students will normally form a team to handle one project. Performance will be assessed both at the project level and the individual level.

After the course, students should be able to explain the current state of development in the application domain similar to his or her project area, to design, propose, implement and evaluate software system solutions. Students should also be able to collaboratively manage a software system development project and to write effective project reports.

(Tentative) Mandatory Pre-requisites:

Please be mindful that students must (1) pass at least 20 credits of COMP S312F, COMP S313F, COMP S320F, COMP S350F, COMP S380F and/or COMP S381F, and (2) have completed at least 105 credits for Year 1 entry, 70 credits for Year 2 entry and 30 credits for Year 3 entry students respectively.

As a sequel to COMP S320F, this course aims to provide students with more advanced concepts of relational databases and more practical experience in different situations.

Students should study more advanced concepts and theories about relational databases. Major topics include Entity-Relation model, normalization, transaction management, and other advanced topics.

Advisory Pre-requisites: Students should have completed most foundation, middle and higher level computing courses.

This course aims to introduce basic concepts and algorithms of artificial intelligence (AI) and to facilitate students to develop advanced programming skills to tackle sophisticated problems, especially using AI algorithms and techniques.

Students will be able to explain the capabilities, strengths and limitations of various AI techniques, as well as AI algorithms and their applications. Students also learn how to apply AI algorithms and programming methods to solve real world problems, and write programs to implement the devised algorithmic solutions.

As a sequel to COMPS350F, This course aims to develop in learners the know-how of project management recognized as good practices in software development.

Advisory Pre-requisites: Students are expected to have completed at least two semester courses in computer programming and COMP S350F Software Engineering.

This course develops in students' ability to write programs that can run on computer networks. Students will improve their productivity as network programmers by learning programming frameworks and advanced programming language features.

The topics may include basic networking concepts, multi-threaded programming, web services, regular expressions, recursion, Lambda expression, map/reduce paradigm, aspect-oriented programming, message queues, etc.

The aim of this course is to develop in students' knowledge and skills in the development of distributed systems and parallel programs. It covers major parallel programming approaches and describes how to model parallel programs with various tools. It also takes students through case studies such as web services and Hadoop.

This course introduces the key concepts, techniques and tools that would allow hidden patterns of data to be uncovered. Key topics of this course include: data warehousing, the data mining process, classification, regression, clustering and association mining.

Students will learn how to apply this knowledge to solving typical data mining problems through case studies of real-world applications of data mining techniques.

The topics may include data mining and data warehousing concepts, data mining process and software, classification and regression methods, clustering algorithms, and association rule mining.

This course aims to develop the students' capabilities in applying programming skills to develop serious games and creative applications. The course consists of three parts.

The first part will teach students how to generate interactive and algorithmic graphics using a game engine. The second part discusses various theories and issues in designing a serious game. The third part introduces various technologies and techniques for enhancing the user experience, which includes using sensors to orient a device in physical space and to interact with game objects.

The course will enable students to design and develop serious games and creative applications with an appropriate integration of programming skills and techniques.

This course aims to introduce students to the field of machine learning, and develop them to apply machine learning algorithms to real-world problems. It enables students to have a broad overview of different machine learning and deep learning algorithms with a focus of applying these algorithms into real-world problems through practical activities.

This course aims to provide students with knowledge of the concepts and fundamental design principles of modern computer networking and to enable them to comprehend and evaluate various kinds of network protocols.

It also equips students for further study of computer networks. The lecture begins at the application layer and working its way down toward the data link layer of the computer network reference model.

Topics include: delay and loss in packet switched networks, protocol layered architecture, application layer HTTP, transport layer TCP, UDP, network layer routing, addressing, link layer switching, multiple access protocols, MAC addresses and Ethernet.

This course aims to introduce students to the concepts of discovering vulnerability, risk assessments, researching in and recommending risk mitigation strategies for common security threats in Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Students will be able to use industry-standard models to explain security requirements in IoT systems, and IoT security risks in an industry sector.

Students will also learn to evaluate physical device / communication / application security vulnerabilities in IoT systems, and design threat mitigation measures based on threat modeling and risk management frameworks.

Topics include IoT Security Challenges, IoT systems and architectures, IoT Device Layer Attack, Communication Layer Attack, Application Layer Attack, vulnerability and risk assessment in an IoT System.

This course aims to introduce the fundamentals of computer forensics and investigations. Topics include historical and current digital forensics; a systematic approach to computer investigations; digital forensics, email and image file analysis; and guidelines for writing digital forensics reports. Various forensic tools will be used during the laboratory sessions of the course.

This course intended for senior students. This course covers principles of computer systems and network security. This courses also discuss various attack techniques and how to defend against them. Topics include network attacks and defenses, malware and social engineering attacks, host security, application security, network security, data security, access control and authentication, and cryptography and encryption.

Advisory Pre-requisites: Students should have completed most foundation, middle and higher level computing courses and should have a solid knowledge in networking or have completed ELEC S305F.

This course introduces the concepts and applications of blockchain technologies, explains their potential impacts on different industries, and explores the latest techniques of permissionless and permissioned blockchains. Students will learn practical development skills in the two popular blockchain platforms (Ethereum and Hyperledger fabric) to understand blockchain programming and application development.

This course teaches fundamental concepts in calculus and linear algebra. The course aims to provide a transition between school and university mathematics. 

The course also aims to develop in students understanding the concepts and techniques of differentiation, integration, vectors and matrix operations. 

This course consists of two parts. In the first part, students will learn the important theories that underpin the way humans interact with computer-based systems. In the second part, students will learn how to use disciplined approaches to (a) design usable and intuitive interfaces for computer-based systems, and (b) evaluate and compare different interface design with respect to their usability and intended user/business requirements.

This course introduces students to the key concepts, theories and best practices used by user experience engineers to design usable interfaces and improve the quality of interaction with computer-based systems.

This course aims to introduce a range of topics and concepts related to the data science process. Students will learn what Data Science is and the skill sets needed to be a data scientist, how to use R to carry out basic statistical modeling and analysis. Students will also learn the significance of exploratory data analysis (EDA) in data science, the Data Science Process and how its components interact.